The airline, Green said, has 70% more seats than its next-closest competitor in Milwaukee. "I think that demonstrates our commitment to the market," he said. “Our goal is ... to be Milwaukee’s hometown carrier."

Airline spokesman Dan Landson said the Milwaukee service changes will include:

New twice-daily nonstops to Nashville.

New twice-daily nonstops to Cleveland on Sunday through Friday, with one flight on Saturdays.

One additional daily flight to Denver, bringing the total to four per day.

One additional daily flight to St. Louis, bringing the total to two each day.

Eliminating two daily flights to Minneapolis.

"(Minneapolis) was a market where we just had a hard time attracting the necessary traffic to make the sustainable returns to make that market make sense," Green said. "We made the difficult decision to re-allocate aircraft into these new destinations."

Delta Air Lines and its affiliated carriers fly between Milwaukee and Minneapolis. Delta is No. 2 in market share in Milwaukee.

In terms of the new Milwaukee service, Southwest is the market share leader in Nashville. It is in second place in Cleveland behind United.

As part of the new Nashville and Cleveland service, Green said Southwest will be offering special fares.

"We will have some introductory fares for the new markets and, without giving away what the actual price point is, I’ll tell you that it’s cheaper than what some airlines are going to charge for bag fees," Green said.

Southwest does not charge bag fees, a point that it stresses in its advertising and marketing.